by Amanda LeMay
With so much property being owned by and staying within the pack, most wolves didn’t bother going through the human rituals like marriage. Even though Mom owned the ranch outright, Kern and Mom didn’t get married, though they did wear gold wedding bands with an engraving on the inside. But getting married was something Jessy wanted and I had no problem giving it to her.
After selling almost everything off and packing up what we wanted to keep, instead of heading back to Comfort, I surprised Jessy with a trip to Cabo San Lucas, where we spent twenty days and nights alone, rediscovering each other.
“So...?” Jessy sighed.
“So, what?”
“You ready to get back to civilization?”
I looked over at her, lying there on her towel, in the sand, on her belly, her naked skin soaking in the warm sun and erasing any tan lines she had had. The last two weeks in Cabo had been amazing, eating shrimp tacos, shrimp enchiladas, shrimp burritos, drinking margaritas and some great Mexican beer, running through the thick, tropical foliage, swimming in the crystal-clear water, lying out naked on the secluded private beach that stretched out in front of the bungalow, making love all hours of the day and night.
We were in heaven.
“Nope.” I wasn’t ready to give all that up just yet. “Why don’t we stay five more days?”
Jessy rolled over on her towel, her beautiful breasts pointing straight toward the sun. And like always, the sight of her pretty, pink nipples made my mouth water. But just because she was flashing her gorgeous body, I wasn’t going to give in and forget what we’d been talking about.
“That’ll get us back exactly one day before our wedding. I’ve got family flying in and I haven’t seen my cousins, Decker and Destiel, in about five years. They probably haven’t seen each other in about five years either...Decker can be a real dick sometimes. Jules is driving over on Thursday. My brothers are bringing their families and even your dad’s going to be there. Besides, I really wanted to have a little input on my own wedding day.”
Yeah, it was time for me to meet the family and I was okay with that, but it also meant I’d have less time with Jessy the few days before the wedding and I wasn’t in the sharing mood, especially with her lying out naked next to me on the beach. I hid my smile as I looked up toward the bungalow, weighing whether I wanted to take her right here on the beach or throw her over my shoulder and carry her into the house.
“More control, is what you’re saying.” My growing erection pressed my towel into the soft sand and I decided having her on the beach sounded damn good. “Listen, we worked all this out before we started packing. That’s why I surprised you with this before-the-honeymoon honeymoon.”
“But—”
“You got your dress. You got Jules’ bridesmaid dress. Invitations sent out. You ordered flowers. You, Mom, and Derry squared away the menu along with the drinks. The cake’s been ordered. Dad’s taking care of the music. Gunner confirmed the preacher from the San Antonio pack will be there to preside over our vows. A slew of other pack members are taking care of everything else. There isn’t one damn thing left for you to do but enjoy our time on the beach.”
“Dain...”
“Sweetheart.” I rolled on my side and propped my head on my hand. Jessy’s eyes immediately zeroed in on what stood straight out, hard and heavy between my legs, which was perfectly fine with me. “Getting back to civilization means I’ve got to give up making love to you here on this beach. Going home now means I have to give you up to your friends and relatives and you, my beautiful mate, need to start looking at house plans.”
“You can share me for just a few days, can’t you?” She grinned, then her eyes grew wide with surprise. “House plans?” A beautiful smile spread across her face. “Really?”
I rolled on my back and pulled her on top of me. She was so damn tiny, she weighed nearly nothing. Her sun-kissed skin was soft and warm against mine. “Of course I’m gonna give you a house. Did you think we were gonna live with our parents for the rest of our lives?”
Her legs straddled my hips while her breasts pressed into my chest. “I didn’t even think about it. I mean, their house is so huge and I thought you would rather... ” She bit her lower lip as her eyes watered up. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to waste the money on another house.”
“Jess, sweetheart.” I wrapped my hand around her neck and kissed her. “Now that I’ve had you all to myself for the last six months, I want to make sure we have a place of our own.” I lifted my hips as her warm, wet sex slipped down, enclosing my cock in her heat. I growled as she sat up and rotated her hips in a figure eight, just the way I liked it. “Someplace where we don’t have to worry someone is gonna hear you screamin’ my name.”
I knew I’d said the wrong thing when I saw that flash of panic cross her face, felt it prickle my skin.
“Jess, you understand what I mean.”
She stared down at her hands splayed across my chest. I’d lost her again. Lost her back in that fucking old barn, where fucking Bobby made her scream my name as he beat her with a leather strap. Sometimes I was an idiot. Sometimes, not thinking like I’d just done, I’d say something or do something that would remind her of that night. I fucking hated the fact that she relived her trauma, every second of it, too many times.
Now, I’d have to give her a few minutes to collect herself before I pushed her to work through it.
And by work through it, I mean every damn time she pulled herself up out of one of her nightmares, she’d reach for me, and I’d make love to her until her tears stopped falling.
In my nightmares, I was always too late. I’d run and run and run and never get any closer to that damn rickety old barn with the blue-white light shining through the warped, wooden slats like shiny needles stabbing my eyes. I’d hear her scream my name and my heart would stop in my chest and I’d know I was never going to make it. Never going to save her. I’d wake up with my jaw clenched tight, covered in sweat, every muscle in my body twitching, as if I had truly run a thousand miles. I’d reach for Jessy, pull her on top of me. She’d open up, give me the connection I needed with her warm body, look at me with her beautiful, amber eyes and I’d know she was safe. I’d know I’d saved her, avenged her, honored her with her enemy’s blood.
“Jessy,” I whispered, “sweetheart.”
Her eyes found mine, her face holding a determined set. “Bobby Sanders was going to kill you. He was going to bury your body there in the hills with all those other people he killed.”
It was the first time since it happened that she’d said his name. Before it was always “he” or “dickhead” or “that fucking sick bastard sonofabitch”. It was progress—though she still talked about it as if it were me strapped down to that hay bale instead of her.
“But, he didn’t,” I said quietly as I stroked the backs of my fingers over her silky cheeks.
She looked into my eyes. “But...what if DJ hadn’t...” She didn’t want to say the words. Of all the hundreds of times she asked me the same question, she never got to the end.
I repeated the same words I’d told her every time the subject came up. “I would’ve found you anyway.”
Kern and I had already found her trail. Hell, I felt her terrified emotions in my heart and soul and pointed my feet along that path. I’d run with my phone between my teeth and when DJ’s text came in, Kern took on his human form, read it, and confirmed we were heading in the right direction. Once we knew her exact location, we threw caution to the wind and ran full-out.
“You’re safe. You’re alive. We found you.” I stroked my hands slowly up and down her arms. All her what-ifs didn’t matter, at least not to me. “And that fucking sick bastard sonofabitch Bobby Sanders is rotting in the ground.”
Jessy smiled.
It was little.
It was sad.
But it was there.
“Oh, Dain, baby, you say the sweetest things.” She moaned as she clenched her sex tight around my shaft
.
“Ahhhh, fuck. I love when you do that.”
She lifted her hips and slowly slipped back down. A shudder of pleasure swept over her little body. “You love when I do other things, too...other things we might get arrested for here in Cabo.” A playfully wicked glint flashed in her eyes. “And I love doing those things to you.”
Fuck, yeah.
“Damn, Jess, just the thought of what you do to me makes me even harder.” I groaned as I grabbed her arms and pulled her down onto my chest. “I think we should discuss our wedding night.”
Then we made plans. We whispered, in great detail, while making love in the sand in Cabo, all the ways we would make love on our wedding night. Afterward, we moved inside the bungalow and did a practice run—a wedding-night rehearsal—which lasted until dawn. And through all that, I convinced her to stay two more days before heading home.
“YOU CLEAN UP REAL NICE, there, Dain.” Chuck’s wife, Cindy, stepped in close to pin the little ivory rose to my tux lapel. “And thank you for waitin’ to get married until you came back. We would’ve kicked your sweet ass from here to Corpus if you would’ve gone off and done this on your own.”
And that was only one of the reasons why Jessy and I waited to do the human thing, though it meant we’d have to deal with the paper and electronic trail later in our long, long lives. No biggie. Wolves had been hiding their trails and tracks since the beginning of time, when they must have realized they outlived humans by a couple hundred years.
Still, knowing that one day I’d look at my best friend and see an old man standing in front of me, hurt deep. So, so deep.
Sharing my wedding day with Chuck and the memories we’d make together were worth more than any paper trail Jessy and I would have to erase later.
I smiled down at my best friend’s wife. “Just returning the favor.”
In human terms, Chuck and Cindy were the ones for each other, and had been since the day she’d picked him out of a crowd at a rodeo down in San Antonio when they were in the sixth grade. She’d lived over in Kerrville, so they carried on their budding romance through emails, texts, and phone calls with the occasional meet-up at whatever rodeo was happening. Chuck worked hard, saving his money, and the day he turned sixteen, passed his driving test, bought a truck, and drove straight to Kerrville to take Cindy out on their first official date. They waited a year before they had sex and Cindy got pregnant the very first time they did. It wasn’t something they planned; it just happened.
And it didn’t matter. At least not to the two of them. They were in love.
They got married the day after they both graduated from high school. I was Chuck’s best man.
Cindy smiled. “I’d kiss you right now, but showing up at the altar with some other woman’s lipstick on your cheek is kinda tacky, so I won’t.” She leaned in to me and gave me a tight hug before stepping over to pin a little rose to Chuck’s lapel. “As for you,” she whispered, though I heard every word, “I’m gonna get lipstick all over you later on. Hmmm...never had sex with a man in a tux before.”
“That’s cuz on our weddin’ night you practically ripped the damn thing off me,” Chuck murmured back.
“Well, I think I deserve a spankin’ for that.”
Chuck laughed and laid his hand on his wife’s ass. “Yeah, you do.”
I felt the sex in the air and the heat rise on my face. “Damn, you two think you could wait until after my wedding?”
Cindy looked over at me, all smiles. “Sorry, Dain. Can’t help it. Being preggers makes me horny. Well, more horny than usual.” She kissed her husband quick, leaving a little lipstick color behind, then walked out of the room.
“Cindy’s pregnant? Again?”
Chuck’s face spread in a beaming smile. “Yeah. Number four.”
“You dawg, you.”
One thing I envied about humans, they could pop out offspring one right after the other. Wolves were never so fertile.
“Dude.” Chuck made a quick grab of his crotch. “I may not be hung as well as you, but what I got works for Cindy and she works it a hell of a lot.” He laughed. “Especially when she’s preggers. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna complain about that.”
“Well, seems like you two were made for each other, seeing that you’re such a horn-dawg and all.”
“You’re damn right.” He chuckled. “You and Jessy gonna have kids?”
“Yeah, we’re working on it.” Though for us to have offspring, Jessy’s heat would have to peak on a full moon and still, that wasn’t a guarantee she’d conceive. “It’ll happen when it happens. We’re not stressin’ over it. We got plenty of time.” And that was the truth.
I grabbed my new boots and moved over to my desk chair.
“She doin’ okay, I mean, since, ya know...the thing...with Bobby?”
I sat down and pulled my boots on, thinking about how to answer his question.
“Shit, sorry, you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine. I just, ya know...”
I looked up at him. “She has nightmares. We both do. Her more than me.” I rubbed my hands down my thighs as I leaned forward in the chair. “We talk about it. Work through it.”
Chuck nodded. He stood looking at me as though he had something else to say, probably an apology he knew wouldn’t do a damn thing to make the past any better, so he kept it inside. I waited, giving him a chance to make up his mind. Then, he swallowed, bunched up his shoulders, and sucked in a breath before speaking.
“Bobby’s had a hard-on for you since high school. He always tried to hide it, but you and I knew. Maybe we should’a told her.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Doesn’t make any difference now.”
“My being here, standing up with you...does that bother her?”
“Nope. We talked about it, when we decided on a date. You don’t hold any bad memories for her. Know what I mean?” I watched as his body relaxed and he gave me a chin lift before staring down at the rug. He got it. “I think getting away from here, from Comfort, and spending time in Albuquerque was the best damned thing we could’ve done. She concentrated on her job. I concentrated on school. And every moment we were together, we didn’t do much but concentrate on each other.”
“They tore that old barn down,” he said quietly and then added. “After they found those two bodies. Took a tractor out there and just leveled the damn thing. A bunch of us helped clean it up. They’re still finding remains over in Kerrville.” Chuck didn’t look up, but I could see the little muscle in his jaw clenching. “Fuck. How did that sick bastard come from the same parents as Maddy and me? I swear, I wanted to dig him up and kill him all over again.”
Hell, I knew how he felt. Not one day went by I didn’t wish I’d dragged out killing Bobby just to hear him beg and scream.
“Dain.” Chuck looked up, his gaze focused on mine. “We never talk about this, but you know I know...you’re...special.”
And because it was forbidden to talk about how special I was, and that it was me who’d killed his brother, I just held his eyes without a word.
“Does Jessy know?”
I nodded then, knowing I couldn’t very well have a conversation about how fucking special both Jessy and I were. But I could give him a warning.
“Trusting you to keep my secret is the only thing keeping you safe. That threat is not coming from me. You understand what I’m saying?”
He was the one to nod this time. “Yep. You’re sayin’ there’s a hell of a lot more wildlife here in Comfort than anyone knows.”
I didn’t confirm or deny, but I could tell by the way he swallowed and how his blond eyebrows pinched together, he understood. “Dude, you know I love you.”
“Love you too, man.” I stood from my chair and hugged him hard and quick. “So, you got any last-minute advice you want to impart before I take the long walk?”
Chuck burst out laughing. “Dude, you’ve been living together for over six months. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re i
n a hell of a lot of trouble already.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve figured out I have to make sure we’re alone in the house before I rip her panties off, or risk having an audience enjoy the show while I lay her out on the dining room table.” I felt the blush rise in my face again just like it had that day.
“You did that?”
“Oh, hell, yeah! Came home after a bad day at school and had my mind set on what I was gonna do the second I walked in that door. I didn’t even notice Jules standing right there in the kitchen, stirring a big pot of chili. Jessy tried to tell me, but I shut her down. Gave Jules a show she won’t ever forget.”
Chuck burst out laughing again. “No shit?”
One thing about Jessy and Jules, they’d grown up in a huge pack that held regular Moon Dance ceremonies, so they were used to watching other wolves having sex for hours on end. And on Christmas Day, we’d mated in front of most of the males from my pack. Our wolf side didn’t give a shit who was watching when we had sex, but for me, I wasn’t used to making love to Jessy in our human form while someone else looked on.
“Embarrassed the hell out of myself.” I shook my head and laughed. “Jessy and Jules, well, they thought it was hot.”
“Yeah, I can see how that would happen. But...having sex on the dining room table like a porn star? Even I think that shit would be hot,” Chuck said as he laughed.
Jules had said she wished she had a camera to film us, because it was the most beautiful act of love she’d ever seen. I took it as a compliment for both Jessy and me. Even made a few videos of our own, and hell yeah, watching as Jessy and I made love was fucking hot.
“Okay, okay.” Chuck’s laughter settled down. “Let me say one thing—don’t do stupid shit. Stop and think about how Jessy is gonna look at you with that what-the-fuck-were-you-thinking look on her face.”
I laughed. “And how will I know the difference?”
